Glen and Marketa: Not Once but Always
by Taylor Jae
Summary: This is a story of Glen and Marketa after Once and how their lives change dramatically--and how they learn to love, live and dream. And live a full and happy life together.
1. Trying to Pull Myself Away

Glen and Marketa: Not Once, but Always

Glen and Marketa: Not Once, but Always

"Great show, huh?"

"Yes", she said back to him, smiling. "A great show." Gosh, he loved her smile. He was supposed to be a hard-core busker on Grafton Street in Ireland, facing the wind, rain, cold, and anything else, and yet he was a huge sap when it came to seeing her smile.

Marketa was humming "The Hill" to herself and Glen thought it was the most beautiful voice he'd ever heard in his entire life. He smiled at her.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing", he said. "Let's get on the bus."

Glen and Marketa were touring throughout Europe and six days in the US. It was exhausting and hard but worth it all the same to sing with the one he loved every night. Now, if only she knew.

He'd loved her ever since he saw her—even though it wasn't exactly right. He himself had tried to wean her off of him, get on with his life and forget about her. But he couldn't. He just couldn't. He never would. That's why he was ever so grateful for Once, because it gave him the opportunity to be near her for such a long time. If only they'd gotten to kiss during the movie. That's what he'd wished since the beginning, and it had yet to happen.

"Well, are you coming or what?" Marketa pulled him out of his day-dream. She was smiling.

"Yes", he said. "I'm coming." He got on the bus, carrying his guitar. He sat next to her. She grabbed herself a bottle of water, tossed one to Glen, and sat down beside him again.

"Your voice sore?"

"Just a little", she said. "Besides, I'm also thirsty." That made them both chuckle.

About an hour and a half later, Marketa said, "I think I'll head off to bed. It's late."

"Sleep well, Mar", he said. "Good-night." He watched her leave until she quietly closed the door to her small room and her couldn't see her anymore.

"You love her", one of the violinists said. "Don't you?"

"I do", Glen said. "I really, really do."

--

**A/N: I know this isn't a HSM story, but I had nowhere else to put it, considering FanFic hasn't made a Once category yet. And, because you guys read my HSM stories very faithfully. Hopefully you'll take the time to read this one. **

**Once is my all-time favorite movie, even second with Titanic. Go see it if you haven't. Then you'll get this story a little better, although it isn't necessary. **

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	2. Say it to Me Now

The next day,

The next day, the tour bus took them all the way to Oakland California, where they were scheduled to perform at the Paramount Theater, all the way from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, CA. They drove and drove and drove. And, while they drove, Glen, Marketa, and the rest of the band practiced.

After they were done practicing, Glen and Marketa sat down to talk.

"Do you ever think", she started, but then she seemed to re-consider.

"Do I ever think what?" Glen prompted her. "You can tell me."

"Do you ever think that we might tear these songs apart?"

"How do you mean?"

"We sing these songs every night, and we're going to be singing them for many, many nights to come." He nodded, yet hadn't the slightest clue as to what she was talking about. His eyes told her to keep going. And that's just what she did.

"Don't you ever think that might be a bad thing?"

"Like how?" He was tired of feeling stupid. He hoped she'd get to her point soon.

"Don't you ever think that maybe, if we sing these songs too much, everyday for instance, like we're going to, do you ever wonder if we're taking the magic away from them, taking them for just songs to sing for people, than what they really are?" Now he understood.

"You know, Mar", Glen said, turning to face her, "I've wondered the same thing myself. And, to tell you the truth, I hope to God that we're not ruining these songs. They mean a lot to me, too." He felt like he might cry. And he saw tears in her eyes. He brushed them away with the soft pad of his thumb.

"Thanks", she said, sniffling pathetically when he was done. "You must think I'm the world's biggest sap."

"Not at all", he said aloud, when he was really thinking, _I think you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen and I love you more than you'll ever know. _

--

Later that night, singing "Falling Slowly" in Oakland, Glen felt a connection to the song that he'd never felt before. Knowing Marketa loved and thrived on the same thing he did, loved music the same way he did and also in a different way than he did, made him love her all the more.

And when she sang "If You Want Me", he got goosebumps. Did she want him? He would have to wait to find out.

--

**A/N: I know these first two chapters are short. They'll get longer as more stuff happens. And I know he thinks a lot about being in love with Marketa. That's partly because he is and partly because she doesn't know it, or the very least doesn't know that he feels the same way. **

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	3. Falling Slowly

Chapter 3

**For the next few days, the Swell Season toured and toured…and toured. Marketa was sitting on a seat on the tour bus, during a rainy and foggy Sunday in late April, the27 to be exact. She had sung and listened to the songs so much, she heard them even in her dreams. She liked to think they were serenading her. Surprisingly, The Swell Season was the one that comforted her the most in her dreams, despite it's eerie and haunting melody. **

**It was kind of like when she had left her home in the Check Republic when she was just seventeen to film Once. It was scary and new, but the second she saw Glen's face, when she came out of the airplane and into the part of the airport where visitors were allowed to wait, she knew she would be alright. **

She had rushed into to his arms, despite the later judgment that told her not to. She had lay in the cool darkness of her room on the top floor of the old apartment building, shaking under the covers at how new and foreign everything was, and then, in that one instant, she had seen Glen. In her mind, she had seen his smiling face, and she smiled a little to herself. She didn't know if this was the right thing to be thinking about in the middle of the night or not, but she had thought it anyway.

And, to this day, in the still of the night…Glen was still the thing she thought about most. She wasn't for certain yet if she loved him, loved him, but she certainly knew she was indeed attracted to him. That much, she knew, had stayed like stone from the beginning. From the very beginning.

She got goosebumps when they sang together, and she got tears in her eyes when he kissed her softly on the cheek. To this day, she hadn't known why, but now she was starting to figure it out.

Marketa then pulled her knees up to her chest, rested her chin in her hands, and rested her hands on her kneecaps. She stared and stared out the window, looking at the sleepy rolling green hills and gray luminous mountain that was, at the time, Mount Hood, in Oregon. She thought then of the haunting melody that had comforted her so many nights, and she shivered, pulled her arms tighter around herself. She then felt the motion of someone sitting next to her. Without even blinking, she thought, "Oh, please let it be Glen!"

And there he was.

"Cold?" He asked, referring to her slightly shivering body.

"No", she replied. And then she smiled. "At least, not anymore." He smiled back, kissed her head in a brotherly way, and went to practice some more.

"Oh, Glen", she thought to herself. "If only you loved me. Oh, if only you loved me."

-----

**A/N: Hey, guys. Thanks so much to inopportune for updating. I never thought anyone would read this story, it being stuck in the misc. movies section. Thanks so, so, so, so, so, so, so much! This chapter is dedicated to you! I really hoped you liked it! **

**I'd also really love some ideas on how to get the story going more. Right now, it's kind of boring, and I want to make it good and dramatic. Suggestions would be much appreciated! **

**REVIEW!!!!!! **


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